§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to stop tour operators from surcharging customers after a contract has been signed, in cases where the operators in fact incur no corresponding rise in their costs.
§ Mr. LeighMy Department has recently laid draft regulations to implement the EC package travel directive. These regulations permit surcharges to be made for certain specified reasons only, such as fuel price fluctuations, exchange rate changes and certain taxes. In order to apply a surcharge, the operator must first have reserved the right to so do in his contract with the consumer. The contract must describe the manner in which the price revision would be calculated. The operator is, in addition, required to absorb any price increase amounting to 2 per cent. of the price of the package and may in no circumstances make a price increase in the period 30 days before departure. An operator who attempted to make a price increase where there has been no corresponding increase in costs would be in breach of contract.